Field Crew Lead (Wildlife)

Field Crew Lead (Wildlife)

Position description — Washington State University’s Quantitative Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Lab has an opening for one (1) 5-month Field Crew Lead in our mountain quail research program. This position is from early February through June 2024. Field work will take place in southeast Washington and neighboring counties in Oregon near the Grande Ronde and Snake Rivers.

This research is designed to inform conservation strategies for Mountain Quail, a critically imperiled species in Washington state, in collaboration with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Our focus this year is to estimate demographic rates, including abundance. The crew lead will work directly with the project principal investigator and a Ph.D. student to test various population survey methods, including double-observer, distance sampling, and point-coordinate capture-recapture using radio-collared and unmarked birds, playback surveys, and acoustic recording units (ARUs). To estimate abundance and demographic rates, field activities will include live-capture, GPS/radio-collar, and locating mountain quail during migration and on the breeding grounds. It will also include raptor surveys, vegetation surveys, nest searching, and setting up game cameras at nests. Depending on experience, the crew lead may have the opportunity to contribute as a coauthor to reports and publications involving the estimation of abundance. Outcomes from this study will be used to inform management strategies for mountain quail in Washington and surrounding regions.

Field work will require daily rigorous off-trail hiking in rugged and beautiful terrain. Some activities will involve multi-day backpacking excursions to locate and monitor collared quail. The work schedule will include some evenings, nightwork, and weekends. The area hosts numerous other species, including coyotes, bighorn sheep, raptors, rattlesnakes, black bears, and cougars. Pay for this position is $20.00/hr, 40 hrs/week. Field housing (WDFW bunkhouses and camper trailers) and a work vehicle are available for work-related activities. There is no cellular service at either site, but a phone (landline) at one bunkhouse and limited Wi-Fi at the other. The nearest towns are Asotin and Clarkston, WA (about 45 mins away).

Qualifications — Preferred: an M.S. degree in wildlife or related field. The crew lead must be able to hike off-trail 5-10 miles a day in rugged terrain, maintain a positive attitude, oversee one technician, and capture, handle, collar, and release quail. They also must be able to effectively communicate with technicians and the graduate student and professor. A valid driver’s license is required, and previous experience conducting population surveys to estimate abundance and detection probabilities, surveying and trapping avian species, and performing telemetry preferred.

To Apply — Send a cover letter (including a description of graduate courses and/or research on population surveys and estimation), resume, and contact information for 3 references in a single document to Georgia Isted (Georgia.Isted@wsu.edu). Start date is ASAP; preferably early February, so applications will be reviewed immediately in the order received.